Standards Issued for Healthcare Interpreter Services
By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: February 19, 2011
All U.S. healthcare organizations must be able to talk with patients about their care in a language they can understand, according to new Joint Commission standards.
That involves hiring interpreters, ensuring proper training, identifying patient communication needs, and keeping a written policy that emphasizes respect of cultural values, according to a white paper written by the Commission “in conjunction with Language Line Services” — a telephone-based interpretation service.
The white paper notes that the company’s “customer regulatory readiness program” — “much of which is free” — includes consultation, support, and instructional materials.
The standards are being implemented in a one-year pilot phase, according to the Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that surveys and accredits hospitals.
More patients with limited English proficiency are seeking treatment at U.S. healthcare institutions, and these facilities have tried to accommodate them by adding bilingual staff, hiring interpreters, and using telephone and video conferencing interpretation services, according to the white paper.
Yet they haven’t been able to keep pace with the “growing needs of an increasingly diverse patient community” — nearly 3,000 unexpected deaths, catastrophic injuries, and other sentinel events have been tied to communication breakdowns, the report said.
In addition, patients with limited English proficiency “suffer a greater percentage of adverse events as a result of such language breakdowns,” the report noted.
This happens because hospitals typically rely on patients’ family members and untrained bilingual staff for translation, the agency says.
So the Joint Commission created a set of standards for ensuring that all patients can receive appropriate information about their care, which calls for healthcare organizations to:
- Define and confirm staff interpreters‘ qualifications
- Document interpreters‘ proficiency and training
- Identify each patient’s communication needs
- Keep a written policy on patients’ rights that includes being respectful of cultural and personal values
The white paper offers tips for ensuring compliance with the new Joint Commission standards:
- Implement a language plan that establishes access at every patient point of contact
- Implement ongoing training and education for interpreters
- Update existing protocols to incorporate the language standards
The Joint Commission says it will conduct unscheduled accreditation surveys every three years to monitor compliance with the standards.
Hospitals that come up short risk jeopardizing the accreditation process, incurring unexpected costs, and taxing limited resources, the report said.
It noted that the greatest consequence of failing to enforce the standards is the “potential delivery of substandard care that could lead to irreversible harm caused solely by the inability to communicate.”
Source reference:
Arocha O, Moore DY “The new Joint Commission standards for patient-centered communication” Joint Commission 2011.
Interpreters help provide court access
Debbie Wachter Morris
New Castle News
July 22, 2011
NEW CASTLE — There are times in the Lawrence County courts when a participant doesn’t speak or understand English.
Then the courts are responsible for hiring an interpreter for the proceeding.
Such was the case earlier this month in the court of District Judge Melissa A. Amodie, where a Spanish translator was needed to assist a man at his hearing for a traffic offense.
Translators of various languages are used in the courts to serve those who cannot speak English.
The cost is borne by the courts, and it can get quite expensive, according to Mary Kelly, a court adminstrator’s secretary who arranges for their appearances.
Kelly noted it’s a rare occurence in the district courts, such as Amodie’s. But she said she arranges for interpreters about twice a month for common pleas court — mostly for family cases.
“I think we’re going to start seeing more of it,” Amodie said.
She explained that, by law, the courts have to provide intepreters, because everyone has to have fair access to the courts.
She recalls once having arraigned a woman by telephone, who spoke only Russian and needed a translator.
It can be a difficult process, because the courts have to talk directly to the defendants, instead of addressing the interpreter, Amodie said. Then the interpreter translates what the judge or other court officials say.
“We’re lucky we haven’t had to do it more,” she said, because of the cost.
The interpreters must be specially trained and certified through the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts, explained Michael Occhibone, Lawrence County’s court administrator.
“It’s getting to be more frequent,” he added.
“Once they are on a case, they stay with a case,” he said of the interpreters. And in the event a case has multiple proceedings, the interpreter is needed for all of them.
Although the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts has a list of translators on its Web site, Kelly arranges for them through an agency called Languages by Nicole in Industry, Pa., which has all state-certified interpreters.
The cost is $75 per hour, plus mileage.
The translator’s recent bill for the traffic hearing at Amodie’s office was $292.71.
There are times Kelly also must hire someone certified in sign language, and she uses a different Pittsburgh agency for those interpreters.
She has a Vietnamese interpeter arranged for this week and a Cambodian translator for Aug. 29, both for family court.
Other interpreters available speak Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, French, German, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog and Thai.
Kelly noted she has to keep close watch over when court proceedings are canceled or postponed so she can notify the interpreter as soon as possible, because they require 48 hours notice for cancellation. Otherwise their charge applies.
She recalled a day last winter when there was a heavy snowfall and she was forced to cancel the translator for the proceeding within 24 hours. She said the courts were billed for it anyway.
Best Careers 2011: Interpreter/Translator
As one of the 50 Best Careers of 2011, this should have strong growth over the next decade
By Alexis Grant
Posted: December 6, 2010
The rundown:
Pharmaceutical inserts, instruction manuals, and textbooks—these are just a few of the documents that translators rework in English or other languages. At courthouses around the country and conferences throughout the world, interpreters help people of different tongues communicate. While both interpreters and translators convert one language into another, interpreters work with the spoken word, and translators the written word. But choosing this occupation means learning more than a foreign language; you also must thoroughly understand the subject you’re communicating about. You’ll relay not only words, but complicated concepts and ideas, as well as the cultural subtleties that accompany them.
Click here to find out more!
Interpreters and translators specialize in a variety of fields, including medical, judiciary, literary, or sign-language. About a quarter are self-employed, and many translators work from home.
[See a list of The 50 Best Careers of 2011.]
The outlook:
Excellent, although prospects vary by language and topical specialty. Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase 22 percent between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the Labor Department. Demand is driven by an increasingly global economy, as well as an increasingly large population of non-English speakers in the United States.
Interpreters and translators held more than 50,900 jobs in 2008—although the actual number is likely much higher because many people in this field work sporadically. Urban areas, especially Washington, D.C., New York, and cities in California, provide the most employment possibilities, especially for interpreters. Interpreters and translators of Spanish should have solid opportunities because of expected increases in the Hispanic population in the United States, and demand is also expected to be strong for interpreters and translators specializing in healthcare and law. Interpreters for the deaf should continue to have favorable employment prospects because of low supply, while conference interpreters and literary translators can expect competition because of the small number of jobs in these specialties.
Other languages in demand include Asian languages—Chinese, Korean, and Japanese—as well as Arabic, Farsi, and indigenous African languages. So, too, are European languages like French, Italian, and German.
Money:
Salary varies greatly depending on language and subject matter. Interpreters and translators who speak languages that are in high demand or underrepresented in the field often have higher earnings, as do those who communicate about complicated topics. In 2009, the median annual salary was $40,860, and the median hourly wage, $19.65. Interpreters and translators in the bottom 10 percent earned less than $22,810, while those in the top 10 percent earned more than $74,150.
Upward mobility:
Once you’ve gained enough experience, you can transition to a more difficult or prestigious assignment—like conference interpreter—or start a translation agency.
Activity level:
Low. Most translation work is done on a computer, so many translators work from home or at an office. Interpreters work in a wider variety of settings, such as schools, hospitals, courtrooms, and conference centers, and may travel for the job.
[See a list of the best creative and service careers.]
Stress level:
Moderate. Expect to work under pressure of deadlines and tight schedules. Since many interpreters and translators work on a freelance basis, your schedule may vary, with weeks of limited work interspersed with weeks of long hours.
Education and preparation:
You’ll need to be fluent in at least two languages (including your native tongue). Though some interpreters and translators grow up in a bilingual home, it’s not necessary. Some interpreters and translators need a bachelor’s degree to find work, while others complete job-specific training programs. Formal programs are available at colleges nationwide and through non-university training programs and conferences. Federal courts require certification for interpreters of certain languages, as do state and municipals courts.
Interpreters and translators benefit from strong research and analytical skills, as well as a reliable memory.
Real advice from real people about landing a job as an interpreter or translator:
Interpreters and translators should master three skills: communicating in a foreign language, writing in their native language, and developing expertise in a field like law, engineering or physics—whatever topic you want to translate. You’ll likely need a degree in that field to understand it well enough to talk or write about it, which means you should expect to have a dual major in college or at least a major and minor: one in the foreign language, the other in your specialty.
Spending time abroad is valuable for aspiring translators. “Master your own language. You have to be a brilliant writer in English … You translate difficult things, like pharmaceutical inserts and physics textbooks and emergency medical procedures. So that requires you develop expertise in a technical field … Consider [in-demand] languages like Chinese and Arabic and Russian, and Urdu or Pashto if [you're] courageous. Or Korean … [But] it’s really more important to find a language you’re passionate about.” —Kevin Hendzel, spokesman for the American Translators Association
Court: Defendants with limited English have right to interpreter
November 22, 2010|By the CNN Wire Staff
Defendants with limited English-language skills have a constitutional right to court interpreters in criminal trials, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Monday.
The ruling came in a case involving a Mandarin Chinese speaker who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on two counts of cruelty to a child. Annie Ling, who had limited English language skills, did not understand that she had the option to plead guilty instead of going to trial and possibly facing a longer sentence, said the American Civil Liberties Union, one of two groups that filed a friend-of-the-court brief stating that denying a defendant an interpreter violates the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws.
“The court acknowledged that we don’t have two systems of justice in this country — one for English speakers and another for everyone else,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, director of the National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project at the ACLU of Georgia. “The constitutional guarantee of due process applies to everyone in this country, not just fluent English speakers.”
Ling was arrested and charged with two counts of cruelty to a child. Her children were removed from the home and placed in foster care, according to court documents. After a 2008 trial, Ling was convicted of one count of cruelty to a child, and sentenced to 15 years, with 10 to serve in prison. The conviction was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The court agreed with the brief, in which the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center joined with the ACLU, that the Sixth Amendment and the due process clause of the 14th Amendment guarantee the defendant the right to an interpreter.
The Georgia Supreme Court also instructed all Georgia state courts to practice “vigilance in protecting the rights of non-English-speakers.”
불황을 이기는 고소득 직종 법정통역사
“아무리 불황이라해도 별안간 외국어를 잘할 수는 없죠,” 엘에이 동시통역대학원 주준희 원장 (사진)의 말이다. 세계화가 가속화되고 국가간의 교류가 늘면서, 한류가 전세계로 퍼져 나가고 또 FTA가 비준될 전망임에 따라 언어의 장벽을 넘는 통역 번역사에 대한 수요는 증가하고 있다.
“로스앤젤레스에서 법정통역사만한 직업도 없어요.” 투자금이 필요없고, 그동안 인생을 살아오면서 배운 이중언어가 있으면 된다. 프리랜서로 보스도 없고 나인 투 파이브의 삶도 아니다. 하루 3시간에 250불, 6시간에 500불을 받는 통역사도 많아 있고, 큰 민사소송을 많이 맡는 경우 연봉 10만불을 훌쩍 넘는 통역사도 많다. “변호사들처럼 패소할까봐 받는 스트레스도 없고…”
“가장 보람있는 것은, 말하지 못하는 사람들의 입이 되고, 듣지 못하는 사람들의 귀가 된다는 소통의 역할이지요.” 부업이나 은퇴 후 취업으로도 가능하다.
한편 손이 둘이라도 훈련이 없이는 피아노를 칠수 없는 것처럼 전문통역사는 엄격한 훈련을 필요로 한다. 어휘도 늘리고 필요한 기술도 익혀야 한다. 특히 동시통역은 꾸준한 훈련이 필요하다.
“엘에이 동시통역대학원은 전문통역번역사를 훈련하기 위해 8년전 설립되었죠.” 그 동안 법정통역사 시험에 패스한 사람은 한두명 빼고는 모두 이 학교에서 훈련을 받았다. 주정부인가를 받았으며 유학생에게 I-20도 발행한다. 스페인어와 중국어 과정, 회화반도 있다. 금년에는 한국에 분교 프로그램을 개설해서 서울 강남역에서 개강한다.
프로그램은 40시간 의료통역사 과정, 1년 법정통역사 과정, 2년 석사과정이 있고, ESL 기초 영어회화 과정도 있다. 의료통역사 과정을 13주간 이수하고 나면 의료통역사협회 (IMIA)에서 실시하는 전국 인증시험을 칠 자격이 주어진다. 이 시험에 패스하면 “공인 의료통역사”로 미국 전역의 병원에서 통역할 수 있다. 법정통역사는 법원과 정부기관, 병원등에서 모두 통역할 수 있다. 학교부설 통역번역회사에서 우수졸업생에 통역번역을 알선하기도 한다. 원하는 학생들은 무료통역센터에서 자원봉사하면서 인턴십을 할 기회도 주어진다.
엘에이 동시통역대학원은 8월 20일 토요일 10시에 무료 공개강의를 갖는다. 연락처 213-368-0700.
LA Translation and Interpretation
2975 Wilshire Blvd, #205
Los Angeles, CA 90010.
Conviértase en un intérprete y traductor certificado.
En la lenta economía de hoy ha sido difícil encontrar empleo. El mercado global laboral está cambiando constantemente y los campos técnicos siempre se están desarrollando. Una cosa que es cierta en la dinámica economía de hoy es que el idioma, es un campo seguro. Sin la interpretación de idiomas muchos negocios, comercios, y personas se perderían en la traducción. La traducción se describe como el proceso de traducir palabras o texto de un idioma a otro. Este proceso es esencial en la economía global de hoy y tiene una demanda muy alta.
Un intérprete certificado en los tribunales de California puede tener un salario anual de entre $70,000 y $100,000, dependiendo de la experiencia. Aunque un empleo con un tribunal sería una carrera estable y segura, un intérprete certificado en los tribunales de California que trabaja de manera autónoma o freelance tiene la oportunidad de ganar mucho más del salario anual que se paga a los intérpretes que trabajan como empleados en el tribunal. Viajar mientras se trabaja puede ser lo ideal para la persona correcta. Un intérprete autónomo o freelance puede tener la oportunidad de programar su propio horario y responder a clientes alrededor de todo el mundo. “Es un trabajo autónomo o independiente, no tiene un jefe o competencia, no requiere inversión, todo lo que se necesita son antecedentes bilingües y algo de capacitación”, dice la interprete certificada del tribunal Anabella, quien estará enseñando interpretación en LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation a partir del 1º de septiembre. Todos nuestros dedicados instructores cuentan con muchos años de experiencia en interpretación y traducción. Igualmente todos nuestros instructores también son intérpretes certificados del tribunal en California.
Una manera de convertirse en un intérprete certificado de los tribunales de California es ingresar al programa de LA Institute of Translation and Intepretation, recibir un certificado de interpretación en un año y luego tomar el examen estatal de certificación de California para certificarse. El programa de LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation le proporcionará las herramientas y la instrucción necesaria para triunfar en los campos de interpretación y traducción. También la escuela cuenta con una empresa filial que remite trabajos para intérpretes del tribunal e intérpretes médicos.
LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation está convenientemente ubicado en el centro de la ciudad y cuenta con estacionamiento gratuito. Llame por favor para enterarse de las fechas de nuestras sesiones informativas y reserve su lugar. Nuestra sesión informativa en chino es el 20 de agosto a la 1:30 pm. Nuestra sesión informativa en coreano es el 20 de agosto a la 10:00 am. Nuestra sesión informativa en español es el 30 de agosto a las 7:00 pm. Para mayor información llame al 866-327-1004 y pregunte por Jeremy.
成为一名得到认证的口译员和笔译员。
如今，经济发展缓慢，很难找到就业机会。全球就业市场不断地发生变化，技术领域一直在逐渐发展。但在如今这快节奏的经济环境中，有一件事是确定的，即语言是一个安全的就业领域。若没有语言翻译，很多企业、政府和个人会因翻译问题而蒙受损失。翻译指的是将单词或文本从一种语言转换为另一种语言的过程。这一过程在今天的全球经济发展中尤为必要，且需求很高。
一名经过了加州法院认证的口译员据其经验的不同，年薪约在 $70,000 到 $100,000 之间。虽然在法院工作很有保障、很稳定，但经加州法院认证的自由口译员有机会比受法院雇佣的口译员挣得更多的年薪。对于适当的人而言，边旅行边工作是他们的理想。自由口译员可以安排自己的日程表，并且能为世界各地的客户提供服务。“这是一份自由职业，没有老板或竞争对手，也不需要投资，您所需要的一切只是您的双语背景和一些培训。”经法院认证的口译员 Anabella 如是说，这名译员将从 9 月 1 日开始在洛杉矶翻译学院做口译方面的培训工作。我们的专门培训师都具有多年的翻译和口译经验。而且我们的培训师都是得到了加州法院认证的口译员。
要成为加州认证的法院口译员，您可以加入洛杉矶翻译学院课程，获取一年期的口译证书，然后参加加州认证考试，从而得到认证。洛杉矶翻译学院课程将会为您提供在口译和笔译领域获得成功所需的工具和指导。学校还开设有子公司，为法院和医学方面的口译员推荐工作。
洛杉矶翻译学院位于市区，交通便捷，且停车免费。请在公开课开课前来电，我们将为您留座。中国公开课的开课时间为 2011 年 8 月 20 日下午 1:30。韩国公开课的开课时间为 2011 年 8 月 20 日上午 10:00。西班牙公开课的开课时间为 2011 年 8 月 30 日晚上 7:00。欲了解更多信息，请致电 866-327-1004，咨询 Jeremy。
Become a certified interpreter and translator
In today’s slow economy, it has been difficult to find employment. The global job market is constantly changing and technical fields are always evolving. One thing is for certain in today’s fast paced economy, language is a secure field. Without language interpretation many businesses, governments, and people would be lost in translation. Translation is described as the process of translating words or text from one language into another. This process is essential in today’s global economy and is in very high demand.
A California Court Certified Interpreter can make an annual salary of about $70,000 to $100,000 depending on experience. Although employment with a court would be a secure and stable career, a freelance California Court Certified Interpreter has the opportunity to earn even more than an annual salary received by court employed interpreters. Traveling while you work could be ideal for the right person. A freelance Interpreter would have the opportunity to make his/her own schedule and answer to clients all around the world. ”It is a freelancer job, you don’t have a boss or a competitor, no investment is required, all you need is your bilingual background and some training.” says court certified interpreter Anabella, who will be teaching interpreting at LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation from September 1. Our dedicated instructors all have many years of experience in the translation and interpreting. Our instructors are all California Court Certified interpreters as well.
One way to become a California certified Court Interpreter, is to be admitted to LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation program, receive a one year certificate in Interpretation, and then take the California State certification exam to become certified. The program at LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation will give you the necessary tools and instruction to succeed in the interpreting and translation fields. The school also has a subsidiary company that refers jobs to court and medical interpreters.
LA Institute of Translation and Interpretation is conveniently located in downtown, and parking is free. Please call for out Open session dates and reserve a seat. Our Chinese Open session is on August 20, 2011 at 1:30pm. Our Korean Open session is on August 20, 2011 at 10:00am. Our Spanish Open session is on August 30, 2011 at 7:00pm. For more information, call 866-327-1004 and ask for Jeremy.
Utøya: English version
{ 2011 07 24 }
Original Article
If a single man can display so much hatred –
think only of how much love we all can display together.– Stine Renate Håheim
I wrote a Norwegian post explaining my experience at Utøya. I had taken this blog for dead, and had entirely forgotten that it was syndicated on Planet Debian. I don’t want to let Google Translate make this disaster any worse than it is – the translation of “bullets” into “balls” being particularly bad – so the international attention the massacre has garnered in consideration, I am writing an English translation of my experiences. I feel somehow duty-bound to make people aware of what happened, but I don’t want to get into anything else but a sober description of the events and some very brief reflections. There are many details I have chosen to omit.
Others have written their experiences of the events at Utøya. I wanted to write mine down as well, and “get it out there”. Partly, I want to write this down because I’m unsure if I will remember all the details at a later point in time, although I think I’d prefer it if I couldn’t. I’m also writing this because people are asking about my experiences and it’s much better to have an URL to give them, lest I have to keep going through the same spiel over and over again.
Our former Prime Minister and current labour movement demigod Gro Harlem Brundtland had recently left the island. I had been the cameraman for a video interview of her talking about Utøya, and I was in the media group room encoding the video into a file suitable for YouTube, when someone else in the room startled and said that Twitter was full of messages about a loud explosion in Oslo. As the newspapers brought us information about the extent of the damages, a consensus arose that an informational meeting was in order. As soon as the current round of talks finished, we were gathered into the main hall.
The meeting was duly held, and after the statement was made that a TV feed would be made available, I took it upon myself as the local alpha geek to make it happen. Of course, the situation caused both the wireless network and the GPRS networks to become totally unusable. As I was waiting for someone to set up a password, I took the opportunity to face the consequences of having eaten two bits of a microwavable dish called “Hold-It” – the local equivalent of a Hot Pocket – and went to the toilet.
As I was in there, I first heard agitated shouting, then screams, then gunshots coming from just outside the toilets. More than anything else, it sounded like a toy gun. I was convinced that someone was making a joke in incredibly bad taste and I stormed out of the booth with the intent of halting it. As I tore the door open, I saw two of my comrades hiding in a recessed corner. Their facial expressions left absolutely no doubt that this was no toy. They signalled for me to get back in the booth. I closed the door, did a mental double-take in utter, complete confusion, and opened it again. They were still signalling. Had they not stood there, I would have run straight into the gunman; they saved my life. I looked out into the hallway, and I made eye contact with a young boy lying in a pool of blood. He was motioning for me to help him. I heard more gunshots from inside the building and retreated back inside.
As I was trying to think through my next move, I realized that the decidedly insubstantial wood-fiber door would not resist any kind of bullets. I made my way out into the hallway, with the intent of escaping outside. At that point, I was of course not aware that there was an intention to kill as many as possible, so I thought that the open spaces outside would be a place of relative safety. Of course, this proved to be wrong – and my life was probably saved a second time by one of the café volunteers taking me into a hard-to-spot employee’s bathroom.
We sat there for ninety minutes. Always ready to make a run for it, ready for just about anything. A peculiar group dynamic arose with these two people with whom I had barely previously spoken. We came to share a strange sense of common destiny and gallows humour. One of them had seen the shooter and described the police uniform. I perceived it to be realistic that we were the only ones aware of the wounded outside the toilet. I tried to reach the emergency services, but all their lines were busy; the terror attack in Oslo had probably clogged their lines. I finally got through to the fire services, who could inform me that the police did know about the situation and were on their way. This was to take 90 minutes – and by the time we evacuated, the young boy outside my door had perished. The despair I first saw in his eyes as I passed him, fleeing from one room to the other – and the empty, blank stare as we left, are burned into me and they are images I will never in my life forget.
Finally, the real police arrived. We walked out. I chose the path through the minor conference hall – something I now regret. The sight was simply beyond my capacity to describe fully, and so terrifying that I barely remember the sight – only the terror it struck in me. There were several people bunched up in a corner, a big amorphous heap of bodies. Some were conscious and yelled at me not to do anything that could startle the police, others lay still. Their bodies were all covered in blood, and a thick pool of blood extended at least a half-metre in all directions around them. The policeman across the hall was screaming orders at me, but he was screaming so loudly that I couldn’t make out his words at first.
We were first moved into the camp newspaper’s offices. There were about eight of us there, I think, in addition to one girl who lay wounded. Towards the end she was drifting in and out of consciousness. We covered her with sweaters to keep her warm and one of us tried to at least temper her bleeding. The bullet had missed her heart, but by the entry wound it was clear that it was not by far. I do not know who this girl was or how she is now. I sat behind and never saw her face. The wounded were evacuated first. I don’t remember how long we remained; I had lost all concept of time.
In spite of protests from the group who knew him, one kid was put in handcuffs. At the time I didn’t understand why, and the policeman seemed to say something almost to the effect that there was no reason for it at all. I didn’t see when they undid his cuffs, but I remember thinking that this treatment made a terrible experience even worse for him. I tried my best to comfort him but knew it would be little help. Later, when things stabilised a little, we were told that he was handcuffed because he had come from an unsecured area. The police was extremely good at carefully explaining what was happening and why; this was a big help and I am grateful for it.
Eventually we were moved out into the main corridor of the building, where we joined up into a group of about fifty. Only when I saw the two people who saved my life did any emotion other than mild confusion arise. I broke down shivering in tears in one of their arms. After a few seconds, I came back to my senses and realised that this was not the time. I quickly gathered myself, got the shaking under control, and sat down. We were given some chocolate and soda from the kiosk. I remember making an offhand remark that an inability to find joy in free candy was a sure sign of a bad situation. We all laughed out loud. Gallows humour is a coping mechanism, but in retrospect one almost feels guilty for it.
We were shown out in a single file with hands above our heads. I remember an intense concern that someone would slip in the steep, muddy slope and create a misunderstanding. Outside, there were more bodies. Some under improvised covers – a tarpaulin from the waffle stand, the deflated bouncy castle – but some simply lay there.
Everyone I met displayed a courage, a mental discipline and unity of purpose far beyond anything one would ever wish to expect from people this young. Everyone conducted themselves with an attitude that could almost be described as “stiff upper lip”.
Safely across the fjord we were offered blankets. I was asked if I was aware of any injuries, and asked to lift my shirt and show my abdominal region. We were shown into the bus which took us to the hotel used by the survivors and their family. I simply cannot describe in any words the relief I felt when I was able to embrace my living comrades. It was completely unlike anything I had ever felt before in my life. The euphoric feeling was tempered only by the realisation that there would be many I could never see again, comrades whom I had taken great pride in calling my friends, with futures in the service of all mankind, futures I had previously found such great joy in pondering and guessing about. The feeling which continues to upset me the most, is the feeling that so many of my comrades left behind grieving families and friends. Torn away senselessly.
I do not know how much more than this relatively sober account of the events on Utøya I can muster. I would, however, like to offer some reflections.
First of all, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank the police who saved the lives of so many still on the island, the holidaymakers who took aboard swimmers into their boats – and the rescue services staffed primarily by volunteers who have spared no effort in trying to soften the blow as much as they can. The opportunity to spend time with those comrades who underwent the same experience as myself has also been an immeasurable aid. I was also so relieved to find my very closest friend among the survivors, which has also been an indescribable help.
If I can name a single positive in this tragedy: Had he arrived with his automatic weapon fifteen or twenty minutes prior, he would have arrived during the informational meeting, at a time when the major hall was absolutely jam-packed – the death toll would be many times what it ended up being. I am agonisingly aware of the meager comfort this provides to those who have been bereft of their closest, but I do find some solace in this.
We cannot sweep under a rug that this was – without question! – a political attack on the labour movement. But it is thankfully also an attack which has been perceived by everyone as an attack on the Norwegian society, and on a symbol of the wide recruitment to the participatory democracy which lies at our very national soul. I cannot thank the Norwegian people, and indeed the people in other nations who have offered their condolences, enough for their shows of support and shared grief. It really has been a tremendous help to me knowing that so many people feel with us.
I also want to thank from the bottom of my heart the rock-steadiness of everyone in both the national and local wings of the Labour Party and Labour Youth in supporting us, and the political milieu in general for their resolute steadfastness saving me from losing yet more that I cherish; our freedoms in a participatory democracy.
Our Party has lost many of its very brightest youngsters. Personally I feel an angry spite, a deep restless urge to get the wheels of society going again. I want to show his kind that we will not be broken. We’re stronger than that. I will not be frightened into silence and passivity. I want to remember the dead, and honor them by carrying on our common work.
I want to end this with a request to everyone who reads this, echoing a statement I read by one of my good friends and comrades: Please, don’t let me see any messages of hatred, wishes for the death penalty, anything like that. If anyone should be of the belief that anything will improve by murdering this sad little person, they would be profoundly wrong. All attention now should be plowed into caring for those victims and their relatives who did not share my luck, and not giving an audience to a perpetrator who wants one.
Tore Sinding Bekkedal
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